Longest journey by a butterfly

A tagged male monarch (Danaus plexippus), released by Donald A. Davis (Canada) at Presqu'ile Provincial Park near Brighton, Ontario, Canada on 10 September 1988 was recaptured on 8 April 1989 in Austin, Texas, USA. It is assumed that this butterfly spent the winter in Mexico as it would not have been able to survive freezing winter temperatures in Texas. Hence, this butterfly travelled at least 4,635 km (2,880 miles) – a distance obtained by measuring a line from the release site to the overwintering sites and back north again to Austin, Texas, USA. However, the actual distance travelled could be double this figure.